a short break for a peace of mind
by CaramelaBasket
Summary: On a tiring politicial trip, Naruto calls Hinata to motivate himself


_That was it._

He had reached his limit.

His head was spinning, his ears were begging for silence. His eyes were about to betray him but he kept telling himself that he had seen worse, _much worse._ A conference call was nothing compared to fighting against Gods and Monsters.

 _Right?_

If only it wasn't so damn boring.

In the midst of scattered scrolls and papers, Naruto Uzumaki lied back on his uncomfortable chair and tried to concentrate on the meeting that seemed to never end. Not that the annoying topic of the reforms for shinobi education was the worst of his worries. Meeting was held at the conference hall of Hokage building but in that moment, he was far far away from Fire country, miles beyond the village he considered home. He sighed, he wished nothing more than being at home, hugging tightly to his wife and kids. Hell, he wished he was _in his own_ damned office rather than this hotel room he felt like prisoned in.

The tick of the kettle gave the news of his ready coffee and it took every inch of energy he had left in his soul to stand up and reach to that fucking thing. God knew he was living on the power of caffeine now. To make the matters worse, his hyper metabolism had gained immunity against the caffeine and the effects on his body were getting shorter with each new day.

One ear still following the shouting, -the debate at the conference hall was getting heated and he could hear the implications of Shikamaru reaching at his limit as well-, Naruto closed his eyes to think about the reasons he found himself in a small but deluxe hotel room of Land of Earth's capital city. _Ah yes_ , he recalled. _I pissed on now-Earth Daimyo's head when I was 12 years old and now he wants to piss on my career as revenge._ He took a loud sip from his coffee and remembered Shikamaru's frustrated face when he left Konoha three days ago.

 _"Are you kidding me now Naruto? You have to be here when we decide on which fields the reforms will cover, what do you think council members will think about you? Fire Daimyo will hear about this! Clones aren't accepted to Fire Council Naruto, forget it!"_

 _"There won't be a Hokage to think after if I don't go to Earth, in person. Now, please take care of the reforms and…stuff while I'm away. I'll leave a clone to office for usual work and send one to home," he said, he was in a rush to get into his private blimp that was due for its leave._

 _"They are trying to destroy the shinobi tradition with these reforms and you are worried about your reputation on the other side of the world? Naruto, Earth Daimyo is grasping at straws. A girl fell of a cliff while trying to take a picture next to your statue. Big deal! Just give your written condolences and move on!"_

 _"Yeah but that's an opportunity for Earth Daimyo to humiliate me to world," and he reached his hand to Shikamaru's mouth before he could speak, "-and he has enough authority to hurt my reputation during this dire time with reforms, even though I'm well aware that I was only 12 when it happened, you don't have to remind me of that."_

 _After all the years he spent with Shikamaru as his advisor, Naruto could guess Shikamaru's possible reactions to his reckless decisions, guessing the words was a game to him by that point._

 _Shikamaru stopped following Naruto around in his office after words sinking in._

 _"This doesn't sound like a plan you'd come up with," he said bluntly, knowing the one behind it all. Naruto gave him a pout that made him look younger than the lines under his eyes suggested._

 _"You disappoint me Shikamaru. My father-in-law is someone I deeply trust so yes, I asked for his advice but I'm still the one coming up with the plan here."_

 _Shikamaru ignored Naruto's futile protests, "Well then, Hiashi-sama is wrong, I will not be taking the risk of you poofing in front of Fire Council."_

 _Naruto finished packing up but didn't turn to face Shikamaru, instead started gazing through the window, watching the village he finally called his._

 _"You won't be. I'll be here in two days."_

But he wasn't. Earth Daimyo was a pain in the ass, so was his elders and elite families. He had to run from one event to another to talk to unfortunate girl's family and he kept getting blocked by the revenge hungry Daimyo at every step. Shikamaru had to accept the representation of Hokage at Council when the day came, and it goes without saying, he wasn't enjoying it in slightest.

"Hokage-sama, you have to agree to these conditions. Times have changed."

"True, we are living in an era of peace where five big nations are working together now. Our priorities should be accommodated to modern times."

The buzzing sound of the men's voices coming from the speaker drown under the loud cries of rejection almost immediately,

"But Hokage-sama, ninja arts are the bone of Konoha!"

Another agreement rose up "It's the reason for Konoha's existence!"

"There has to be a middle way!"

Naruto sighed and changed his position to be heard better on conference call,

"We can't cut from Ninja Academy's budget. Unless you come to me with a solution that doesn't involve putting ninja arts on back burner, I will not be agreeing, gentleman."

And the voices collapsed again, one after another, trying to reach him.

He let his body fall on the table, not caring how uncomfortable it was. He felt a thick book falling off the table -was it "Legislations on Ninja Education"? He didn't _care_ \- and some documents wrinkled under his body -well he cared about _this one_ , hopefully they weren't the drafts of the bill- but his body was acting against his will after forty-eight hours of sleepless racing and constant worry he just couldn't erase from his mind for his family at home. He already lost the clone he sent home in his first day, thanks to a fist to his main chakra points done by his son. He hated the experience of sadness washing him all over again, ending with the unexpected chakra blow and his son yelling " _We don't need a clone in house!_ " to his face. The gentle fist Boruto performed wasn't meant to hurt him physically but enough to destroy the clone at least and most definitely, it was enough to hurt _him_.

Sometimes Boruto could be too much. _No_ , he corrected, _he was getting worse every new day_. Naruto knew he wasn't the best father he could have been and he knew Boruto's reactions were not unfounded. And yet here he was, without any solution in his hands, how to make his family happy.

 _I deserve this._

He shook his head, no, he was being too harsh on himself. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Hinata's face, elegantly soothing him to sleep like on one of the nights he was in despair out of work. It was a calming method he came up with in absence of her, days away from house and away from the lips he's accustomed to kissing so much. He imagined her recent hair cut, dark purple locks falling right under her neck. Her smile would take away all the worries. He felt her touch at his back, drawing circles to keep his demons at bay.

But instead of calming him, the mental images started to hurt this time. He missed her. So much. He missed Boruto's cheerful chatters, Himawari's giggles. It had been only two years since he came to position and only a few months since he came to accept the inner turmoil he had about the expectations and disappointments of his life long dream. Was it really what he desired? Was he satisfied? Felt accomplished?

But it was too late now. He was first and foremost a shinobi and it was in his blood to endure, so was in his family's.

 _His._

He was going to finish his mission in Land of Earth tomorrow. And he was going to face Fire Daimyo the day after. That was a promise he made to himself. Then logic crept his way to his sleepy brain;

 _Well, I kinda have to, otherwise everyone is screwed._

He opened his eyes to see the white blank ceiling. He could still hear the voices from the call and as much as he hated it, a part of his mind was still working too.

 _No rest for Hokage._

Council was still opposing each other, zilch progression on the bill. Those who held the opinion of ninja arts no longer being functional and others defending Konoha's services. As the time passed speeches got longer, the meanings shorter. Men started to repeat themselves and Naruto knew today was not going to be an end for this.

 _That truly was it._

Naruto suddenly jolted from his position and muted the conference call in a moment of dizzy mind. He wasn't going to stop the current fight held at Council nor was needed anyway, politics was always more up to Shikamaru's alley. He reached to his cellphone. The number he was going for was on his speed-dial, unironically. Once he put the phone close to his ear, he realized he forgot to check the time… but that wasn't enough for him to cancel the call anymore. He was far beyond his limits now and all he needed was her, the peace, the dreams, the sun in the middle of the pitchblack night.

And after a few minutes of agonizing wait, he heard the voice. _Her voice._

"Yes?"

He took a second to let himself washed away by her voice, to be filled with energy all over, why was he using coffee again? He felt his tummy being filled with a bittersweet liquid he could never name and it slowly reached to his chest, spreading out, leaving traces of pain and a bit of happiness he could only relate Hinata with. And in that moment he let those emotions take over him.

"I missed you."

It was sudden, his voice thick. The reason long left his body. He felt the halt from other side, a fractule of a second, a heartbeat only Naruto could feel.

"So did I." She whispered, with a longing that came to his ears like the wind on a hot summer day.

He let his body fall back on table again, this time more absent minded than before. Even if something fell, Naruto was no longer able to care about his surroundings anymore.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." He wasn't. She knew.

"Please don't tell me you are still working at 4 AM." She knew better, he did.

"It's 4 already? Fuck. I have meetings tomorrow early morning."

"You mean today, right?" She chuckled, but the pain hidden under wasn't left go unnoticed by Naruto. She was worried about his health and the worries had gotten bigger the longer the distance became.

"I don't even know what's night and what's day anymore," he mumbled, he didn't want her worries to get even bigger but he was so lovesick, he wanted her to know how much he loved her, and it hurt not being beside her, he knew _he knew_ that she felt the same and if there had to be a person to voice the pain in their relationship, he was ready to take the fall; after all she was always the stronger of the two.

"It just doesn't mean anything without you. Without Boruto. Hima."

He imagined her taking a seat over balcony, looking at Moon while listening him talking. She probably had her lavender nightgown he loved so much, but the cold of small hours would still get to her, maybe pinken her cheeks if he was lucky.

"Is there anything I can do to ease your pain then?" Her voice was playful in contrast to the matter of subject at hand but this time he was the one who knew better; he didn't need to be further pained by 'so do we'.

He looked at the ceiling, his eyes searching for a Moon that wasn't there, "Just take my mind away from peeing or education, that's all I ask." They laughed together at the the oversimplication of the situation he was in.

"Well…Today Boruto went away for his mission, it's a C rank this time. He said it was a boring robbery investigation in Iwa, but once Hima asked for a souvenir, it was enough for him to get all fired up."

Naruto listened his wife without any interruptions, he knew the parts she left out, Boruto saw his clone in his office and probably whined about the rank of mission all the time until Himawari came in. He chuckled to himself, Boruto surely had something of Naruto's younger days in him.

"And today I found out Hima's arms has gotten too tall for her shirt. We will go out shopping tomorrow."

"The yellow one? Aww she looked like a beautiful sunflower in it."

"I know, she's getting taller really fast compared to Boruto. Hima already started teasing him about it."

"I'm sure Boruto will be a late bloomer like me, I was even shorter than you back when I was genin."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, what if he takes after me?"

"And I wish he did. I wish both of them did."

In that moment, silence fell between the husband and wife. Time was still flowing, and their kids were growing up. They were at a point where words wouldn't be able to hide the sadness of being apart. Naruto could hear the silent, 'And I wish you were here to see them grow up', as if there was no pause.

Funny thing, all they needed to understand each other was looking at their eyes back then, now they didn't even need to breathe the same air anymore.

"Saaaay Hinata…What was the first flower we planted in our garden?"

The other side of the call was startled because of the sudden change of the topic but the message was clear. It hurt to talk about kids too. Time, even more so. Hinata was more than ready to abide by his wish.

Naruto could hear her humming deep in thoughts, he knew she was reflecting on a timespan of ten years now. _Ten years_. It still felt surreal at times, being married, having someone to hold at the darkest nights, a family he could come back to, a house he could finally call home. And it had been what- _ten years_? Ten years! Naruto could feel his wife's smile from the other side of phone, she was sharing the same thoughts in the exact moment and this brought a familiar warmth to his chest, a feeling he was afraid to lose like waking up from the sweetest dream.

"Forget-me-nots…You were the one picked them," she chuckled softly, "You were so excited about having a garden, you couldn't stop talking about it for read many books with Sai, it also helped that he was designing his garden with Ino at the same time with us. "

It was ten years ago, he repeated it to himself, talking about it out loud left him in disbelief, _ten years full of memories with love_ , "It was always a dream of mine to have a garden…I was so used to windowsill, having a big space was…heavenly." He picked up a pen right beside his head and started to play with it, "I wanted our first flower to be something meaningful for us."

"Hmm…Faithful love, isn't it?" Hinata was speaking hoarsely under the weight of drowsiness, but it had still the calming charm Naruto fell in love with.

"Aaaand memories…For the memories we would share together."

"And we did share great memories together. And we will share more for the years to come."

There was another silence. Early hours carried over the words of endearment worth years to each other through the stillness. The garden started with forget-me-nots grew bigger with peonies, sunflowers, roses, camelias and all the vegetables they lost the count of after the years, cared with love and shared with the countless memories soiled in love.

"Until my last breath, Hinata…and even after."

It was the promise that was sowed under the moon, a promise that would end with death that grew into eternity over the time.

"Now are you ready to get back to work Hokage-sama?"

"Thanks for slapping me with reality again, m'lady."

Under the laughter they shared, he heard her whisper _I love you_ , and it hit him all the same, year after year, _day after day_. He felt the same when she said the first night he held her in his arms, and he felt the same when she whispered next to his hospital bed.

"I love you more every day."

When the call was over, he unmuted the conference call. He knew what he had to do now.

—-

The next day Hinata Uzumaki came home from her charity work to find a giggling Himawari to greet her by little girl pointed to the kitchen counter teasingly and covered her mouth to suppress her giggles, not that she was very successful at that.

As she looked up to where Himawari pointed, a smile blossomed on her lips.

A vase full of forget-me-nots were standing on the kitchen counter, blue and violet petals radiating the hall.

She didn't need to read the note to know why it was there and who it was from.

 _He was home._


End file.
